Volkswagen e-Up electric city car confirmed

e-Up replacement due from 2027 priced under £17k. By Phil McNamara.

Illustration: Avarvarii

IT’S OFFICIAL

Volkswagen deliberated long and hard on how to progress with an electric city car to replace the Up, having four proposals on the drawing board in early 2024 – including one with Renault, which fell apart in May. VW promises a city EV ‘from Europe, for Europe’ with a planned price of under €20,000 (around $17,000).

A FIERCE RIVAL

The planned partnership would have looped VW into Renault’s project to revitalise the Twingo. Instead, the French supermini will be its closest competition, promising a similar price and launching more than a year before. ‘Why is it taking so long? Because we need to make cars that fit to the VW DNA without compromises,’ says Schafer.

SOME EARLY STATS

Brand boss Thomas Schafer says VW is exploring a 300km (186-mile) range: ‘You cannot offer a car that can only do 150km or something – it makes it cheap but it’s just going to annoy customers. This would come in after the ID. 2, so probably 2027 onwards. It’s a very, very sharp pencil to get this into profitability.’

LITTLE AND OFTEN

As well as the Up replacement, tentatively called ID. 1, a shift in Euro 7 emissions rules means the Polo (pictured) will continue and we’ll see a production-spec ID. 2 by the end of the year. And the VW Group is planning more: four €25k EVs, says Schafer. ‘They are super vehicles with no compromises on looks, safety, quality, range.’

FACTFILE

• POWERTRAIN 40kWh battery (est), 100bhp (est), single e-motor, front-wheel drive
• CHASSIS Steel monocoque
• DUE 2027

ID. 1 the smallest of a new EV wave